Autoprogrammed, channel mapping for a video cassette recorder

ABSTRACT

In a videocassette recorder including &#34;VCR PLUS+™&#34; videocassette recorder programming system capability and autoprogramming capability, it is herein recognized that the channel-mapping procedure may be greatly simplified by using the autoprogramming feature to locate and program all active channels, and then by mapping only those channels which are active, instead of requiring the user to select all 125 possible channel-programming positions.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 07/695,026, filed May 2,1991 now abandoned.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The subject application concerns the field of videocassette recorders(VCRs) and apparatus for programming them.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The subject patent application is related to patent applications bearingU.S. patent application Ser. No. 695,025 and 694,310, filed herewith,and assigned to the same assignee as the subject invention.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is generally believed that many, if not the vast majority, of peopleare simply unable to program their VCRs to record a desired televisionprogram on a given channel, at a given time and date. VCR manufacturershave provided different programming schemes in an attempt to addressthis undesirable situation, with little success.

Early VCRs such as the VET 650 manufactured by RCA Corporation,Indianapolis, Ind., were programmed by means of pushbuttons mounted onthe front panel of the VCR. The pushbuttons controlled the entry oftime-on, time-off, date, and channel number data. Feedback was providedto the user by means of a front-panel-mounted LED (light emitting diode)display. While such systems accomplished the programming task, they werenot perceived as being user-friendly.

Later VCRs such as the Panasonic model PV-4800 manufactured by PanasonicCompany, Division of Matsushita Electric Corporation of America,Secaucus, N.J., provided on-screen programming in an effort to makeprogramming the VCR a less intimidating and confusing task. Nonetheless,users may still be confused by the numerous programming steps involved.

Panasonic VCR model PV-2812 employs a bar-code reader for programmingthe recording of television shows. In this system, a user draws abar-code reader across the appropriate codes printed on a bar-codesheet. This solution is considered inadequate for several reasons.First, most newspapers do not print television schedule bar-codes.Second, such printed barcode sheets tend to be relatively large piecesof paper which should be stored in a place, presumably near the VCR,where they will be readily available for programming. Third, the usermust use yet another piece of equipment (i.e., the bar-code reader) inorder to read-in the code for his desired television show.

When the user is a subscriber to a cable television system, hisconfusion concerning VCR programming may be greatly multiplied, becauseit is common practice in cable television systems to translate programsfrom their normal "air" channel to a different "cable" channel. Forexample, a television program broadcast on channel 29 may be received bya cable television subscriber on cable channel 09. Thus, when thechannel listed in the channel guide of the local newspaper is not thechannel upon which the desired television show is actually conveyed bythe user's cable TV service, the VCR programming task may appearinsurmountable.

Recently, a programming simplification system known as "VCR PLUS™",manufactured by Gemstar Development Corporation, Pasadena, Calif., hasbecome available. Briefly, the apparatus of the "VCR PLUS+™"videocassette recorder programming system resembles a standard remotecontrol handunit. The handunit is preprogrammed with the codes forcontrolling the VCRs and cable control boxes of many manufacturers. Thehandunit is then programmed by the user with a unique code comprising 1to 8 digits, which code corresponds to a particular television showbroadcast on a given channel, at a given time and date, and having agiven duration. A television show which is broadcast at the most popularviewing time (for example, 7 pm) may have a code which comprises only 1digit. Conversely, a television show which is broadcast at the leastpopular viewing time (for example, 3 am) may have a code which comprisesthe full 8 digits. These codes are printed in the channel guide sectionof the viewer's local newspaper along with the normal time and channelinformation. After entering the unique 1 to 8 digit code for aparticular television show to be recorded, the user places the handunitin a cradle mounted on his VCR to ensure that the handunit is in theproper orientation for transmitting data to the IR (infrared) receiverof the VCR. At the proper time, the "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorderprogramming handunit transmits IR codes to the VCR to turn it on andprogram it to record the desired television show.

While at first glance, it appears that the "VCR PLUS+™" videocassetterecorder programming system solves the consumer's VCR-programmingconfusion problem, a significant problem remains. If the user is a cabletelevision subscriber, the "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorderprogramming system has no way of knowing which broadcast channels areassigned to which cable channels of the user's particular cable service.Thus, to use the same example as given above, a user who is a cabletelevision subscriber must perform a channel-mapping procedure to informthe "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorder programmer handunit that channel29 is actually received on cable channel 09. The "VCR PLUS+™"videocassette recorder programming system provides a method of selectingeach of its channel-programming positions to effect this one-timechannel-mapping procedure. However, the task of selecting each positionfor channel-mapping is in itself somewhat confusing and time-consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a videocassette recorder including "VCR PLUS+™" videocassetterecorder programming system capability and autoprogramming capability,it is herein recognized that the channel-mapping procedure may begreatly simplified by using the autoprogramming feature to locate andprogram all active channels, and then by mapping only those channelswhich are active, instead of requiring the user to select all 125possible channel-programming positions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 shows, in block diagram form, a VCR incorporating the subjectinvention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a portion of the control program of thecontroller of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3a-3n are illustrations showing display screens produced inaccordance with the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the channel mapping portion of the controlprogram of the controller of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 shows blocks of memory locations of the EEPROM of FIG. 1,according to the subject invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, radio frequency (RF) signals are applied to an RFinput terminal of a tuner assembly 102. Tuner assembly 102 selects aparticular RF signal under control of a tuner control unit 104 whichapplies a tuning control signal to tuner assembly 102 via a wire 103,and applies band-switching signals via a control bus 103'. Tuner controlunit 104 is controlled by a controller 110. Controller 110, which may bea microprocessor or microcomputer, includes a central processing unit(CPU) 112, a read-only memory (ROM) 114, a random access memory 116, andan external electrically-erasable read only memory (EEPROM) 117.Controller 110 generates a control signal for causing tuner control unit104 to control tuner 102 to select a particular RF signal, in responseto user-entered control signals from a local keyboard 120 and from aninfrared (IR) receiver 122. IR receiver 122 receives and decodes remotecontrol signals transmitted by a remote control unit 125.

Tuner 102 produces a signal at an intermediate frequency (IF) andapplies it to a processing unit 130 comprising a video IF (VIF)amplifying stage, an AFT circuit, a video detector, and a sound IF (SIF)amplifying stage. Processing unit 130 produces a baseband compositevideo signal (TV), and a sound carrier signal. The sound carrier signalis applied to an audio signal processor unit 135 which includes an audiodetector and may include a stereo decoder. Audio signal processor unit135 produces baseband audio signals and applies them to a signal switchunit 137.

The baseband video signal (TV) is coupled to a video processor unit 155and is also applied to signal switch unit 137. Video and audio signalsare also applied to a tape recorder unit 165 which causes the signals tobe recorded onto video tape. Tape recorder unit 165 has a control inputand operates under control of a tape recorder unit controller 160, whichmay be a microprocessor. Tape recorder unit controller 160 is in turncontrolled by control signals from controller 110. Under control ofcontroller 110, an on-screen display processor 140 generates charactersignals, and applies them to a second input of video signal processor155, for inclusion in the processed video signal. Signal switch unit 137is controlled by controller 110 via a control input terminal C to selectaudio and video signals from audio signal processor 135 and video signalprocessor 155, or from the output terminals of tape recording unit 165in the playback mode, and to apply the selected signals to a modulator139 for modulation onto a particular channel frequency carrier,typically that of channel 3 or channel 4. The circuitry described thusfar is known from RCA videocassette recorder model VR520.

Unlike the RCA VR520, which has as its main programming feature a TIMERPROGRAM mode of operation, apparatus according to the subject inventionincludes both a TIMER PROGRAM programming feature and a VCR PLUS™programming feature. The control program for the above-mentionedfeatures resides in ROM 114 of controller 110. Electrically-erasableprogrammable read only memory (EEPROM) 117 is coupled to controller 110,and serves as a non-volatile storage element for storing autoprogrammingchannel data, user-entered channel data, and "VCR PLUS+™" videocassetterecorder programming system channel mapping data.

It is herein recognized that it is a clear advantage for the unit whichcontains the "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorder programming systemcontrol code (in the subject case, the VCR) to be coupled to thetelevision antenna line, so that the controller can determine whichchannels are active. By displaying only the active channels, consumerconfusion regarding the channel mapping task is reduced due toshortening of the channel mapping list by elimination of those channelswhich are inactive.

The present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, and3a through 3n. With respect to FIGS. 3a through 3n, assume that a VCRaccording to the present invention is coupled to a television set300a-300n, having a picture tube 310a-310n, respectively. FIG. 3a showsa display screen displayed in response to the pressing of the PROGRAMkey of remote control handunit 125. Note that by pressing either key 1or key 2, the user can program a television show for recording by meansof the "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorder programming system or bynormal TIMER PROGRAM recording, respectively. Options 3 and 4 arestandard features and need not be described here.

In response to the pressing of key number 5, VCR SET UP, the displayscreen of FIG. 3b is generated, which provides another list of 5options. Selecting item 1 enables the user to toggle back and forthbetween controlling tuner 102 to tune NORMAL (i.e., broadcast or "air")and controlling tuner 102 to tune CATV (i.e., cable) frequencies.Selecting item 2 causes an AUTOPROGRAM function to be implemented inwhich tuner 102 is controlled to search for all active channels andcompile a list of channels which are available to be tuned, and thosewhich are inactive and are to be skipped over. The selection of menuitem 4 allows a user to add a channel to the list or delete a channelfrom the autoprogram scan list. Menu item 5 is not relevant to thesubject invention and need not be described here. Selection of menu item3 causes the display of the screen shown in FIG. 3c.

FIG. 3c shows the VCR PLUS+™ videocassette recording programming CHANNELSET UP screen, comprising a lefthand column labelled CATV and arighthand column labelled GUIDE CHANNEL (GUIDE CH). The label CATV ispresent rather than the label NORMAL, because of a NORM/CATV selectionmade earlier with respect to the screen menu of FIG. 3b. In theparticular example shown in FIG. 3c, the first 5 entries of theabove-mention autoprogram list are displayed in the lefthand column. Aone-for-one mapping of the active channels has produced the list shownin the righthand column. That is, the software contained in ROM 114assumed that the television program actually received on channel 4 was aprogram transmitted by the broadcaster who actually broadcasts onchannel 4. As a starting point, the same assumption is made for allother channels received, as shown by the one-for-one correspondence ofthe column entries. However, as noted above, the signal received oncable channel 09 may have actually been transmitted by the broadcasteron channel 29, and moved to the channel 09 position by the cablecompany. This causes the following problem. A newspaper TV listing listsa particular television show to be broadcast on a particular date, at aparticular time, and on a particular channel, in this case channel 29.The "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorder programming system program codeprinted in the newspaper TV listing will, when descrambled and decoded,produce the channel guide channel number 29, not the channel guidechannel number 09. Thus, some means of "mapping" the channel guidechannel number 29 to the cable channel number 09 must be provided.

Such channel mapping means is shown in FIGS. 3c and 3d. An arrow 320c isshown pointing to the line containing the channel number to be remapped.The direction of the arrow indicates which column entry will be changed.FIG. 3c shows the entries before the change, and FIG. 3d shows theentries after the change (i.e., after the channel 29 data is entered).

As a result of the channel mapping operation, when the channel guidechannel number 29 is descrambled and decoded from the "VCR PLUS+™"videocassette recorder programming system code, tuner 102 will becontrolled to tune to cable channel 09, on the proper date, at theproper time the basic operation for descrambling and decoding an entered"VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorder programming system code is shown inFIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 2, a scrambled code of the "VCR PLUS+™"videocassette recorder programming system is received at element 210 anddescrambled at element 220. All the elements of FIG. 2 with theexception of elements 235 and 245 are known from the previousimplementation of the "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorder programmingsystem. Elements 235 and 245 will be discussed in detail below.

A further advantage of the subject apparatus over the previousimplementation of the "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorder programmingsystem is that the display of the "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorderprogramming system handunit comprises a single line of data, while thesubject apparatus displays five lines of data on a television screen.This arrangement produces two advantages. First, it presents the userwith five times as much channel mapping information at any given time,and second, it more effectively conveys the notion that the user isviewing a portion of a list comprising multiple entries. It is felt thatboth of these advantages tend to reduce user confusion.

Advantageously, the-subject apparatus requires no pushbuttons unique tothe VCR PLUS+™ videocassette recorder programming system to be added tothe VCR remote control handunit. Thus, customers with previouslypurchased "unified" or "universal" remote controls (i.e., those remotecontrol handunits having the capability to control both television setsand VCRs of a given manufacturer) are be able to use them to program thesubject "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorder programming system-equippedVCR. For example, the handunit of the "VCR PLUS+™" videocassetterecorder programming system includes a REVIEW key, a key generally notfound on VCR or television set remote control handunits. In order toprovide the REVIEW function, yet maintain downward compatibility withexisting remote control handunits, the CHANNEL UP AND CHANNEL DOWN keysare used to scroll through the channel mapping list. FIGS. 3e and 3fillustrate scrolling up and down, respectively, through the channelmapping list. Note that the indicator arrow remains stationary duringthe scrolling process.

FIGS. 3g and 3h illustrate the process of deleting an entry from theguide channel list stored in EEPROM 117. In FIG. 3g, the list wasscrolled until the indicator pointed to the entry to be deleted, in thiscase channel 13. Then the STOP key of remote control unit 125 waspressed to perform the deletion. Note that the line containing channel13 remains on the display of FIG. 3g with the GUIDE CHANNEL entry erased(i.e., replaced by dashes). This enables the user to replace the valueif the deletion was performed in error. However, if the user correctlydeleted the entry, the user can complete the deletion of the entire lineby simply scrolling the dashed entry off of the screen. When thatportion of the list formerly containing the dashed entry is nextdisplayed, the entire line associated with the deleted entry will beabsent from the list, as shown in FIG. 3h (i.e., channel 13 entrymissing). Having finished mapping all necessary channels, and deletingall channels which were undesired, the PROGRAM key is pushed to exit the"VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorder programming SET UP routines, onceagain produce the screen of FIG. 3a.

Pressing key 1 will cause the display of the screen of FIG. 3i. In FIG.3i the user is instructed to enter the "VCR PLUS+™" videocassetterecorder programming system code from his local TV listing. In FIG. 3j aparticular 4 digit listing 3538 has been entered, After pressing theENTER key of remote control unit 125, the screen of FIG. 3k is produced.The three choices of the menu screen of FIG. 3k are well known in theart, are self-explanatory, and need no further explanation here.Pressing key 1 provides the user with a filled-in schedule (FIG. 3L)derived from the information in the "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorderprogramming system code 3538. In order to avoid user confusion, thechannel number displayed in the screen of FIG. 3L is the remappedchannel number (in this example, channel 09) and not the channel numberwhich appears in the newspaper listing (in this example, channel 29).One reason for this is that 09 is the channel number which thisparticular user would have to enter if he were programming his VCR viathe TIMER PROGRAM menu. Thus, the displayed channel numbers of the twoprogramming systems are consistent with one another.

Turning once again to FIG. 3a, if the user had pressed key 2 TIMERPROGRAM, he would have caused the display of the screen of FIG. 3m,which is essentially the same as the display of FIG. 3k for the "VCRPLUS+™" videocassette recorder programming system programming example.If key 1 ONE TIME PROGRAM is pressed, then the display of FIG. 3n isproduced, as is known from the prior art, for manual filling-in of thenecessary data.

It is important to note that controller 110 "remembers" if "VCR PLUS+™"videocassette recorder programming system was selected for the lastrecording (i.e., stores data in a memory location of EEPROM 117), and ifso, automatically selects "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorderprogramming system mode for the next recording. That is, the program inROM 114 controls the display of the screens such that, if "VCR PLUS+™"videocassette recorder programming system mode was selected for therecording of the last TV show, then the next time that the PROGRAM keyis pressed, the screen of FIG. 3a is skipped and the screen of FIG. 3iis the first screen displayed.

A portion of the control program for controller 110, for controlling achannel mapping operation, is illustrated in the flowchart of FIG. 4.For ease of understanding, FIGS. 4 and will be explained with referenceto each other. The channel-mapping routine of FIG. 4 is entered at step400. At step 405, the channel mapping list stored in the channel mappinglist area of EEPROM 117 (shown in the righthand portion of FIG. 5) isdisplayed.

The addresses 505 of the channel mapping list correspond to televisionchannels (i.e., except for channel 0 in the United States). Each memorylocation of the channel mapping list comprises eight bits of memory.Seven-bit portions (designated 520 in FIG. 5) are used for storing thechannel guide channel number (0 to 125) and the eighth bit (designated510) is used to indicate whether or not the channel is active or to beskipped. The lefthand column of memory locations of FIG. 5 contains theautoprogramming channel scan list. Each location of the autoprogrammingchannel scan list comprises eight bits of memory (b0-b7) for designatingactive or skip status for each of eight particular channels. Bit 0 ofmemory location 0 corresponds to channel 0, an invalid channel number,and contains an X to illustrate a "don't care" condition. The same istrue for channel numbers 126 and 127, which are not supported in thisembodiment. When an autoprogramming sequence is performed, both theautoprogramming channel scan list and the channel mapping list areautomatically programmed to contain identical channel data regardingactive channel status. Thereafter, both lists may be modifiedindependently of each other.

It is important to note-that if the user moves to a new geographic area,his autoprogramming channel scan list and channel mapping list must beupdated for the active channels in his new area. The task ofreprogramming the user's VCR is eased by the subject apparatus becausechoosing the AUTOPROGRAM feature from the menu of FIG. 3b automaticallyreprograms both the autoprogramming scan list and the channel mappinglist at essentially the same time. Additional channels added to theautoprogramming scan list (i.e., via the ADD/ERASE function from themenu screen of FIG. 3b, or via ADD/ERASE keys (not shown) of remotecontrol handunit 125) will automatically be added to the channel mappinglist. However, channels deleted from the autoprogramming scan list(i.e., via the ADD/ERASE function from the menu screen of FIG. 3b, orvia ADD/ERASE keys (not shown) of remote control handunit 125) will notautomatically be deleted from the channel mapping list. To understandthe reasoning behind this method of operation, recall that if a channelis programmed into the autoprogramming scan list, then the tuner willalways stop at that channel when scanning down from the next higherchannel, or when scanning up from the next lower channel with theCHANNEL DOWN and CHANNEL UP keys, respectively. If a particular channelis seldom watched, the user may wish to delete it from theautoprogramming scan list to prevent it from being tuned during channelscans. In addition, a cable television subscriber may delete theso-called "Premium" channels from his autoprogramming scan list becausethose channels often convey movies which he may feel are not suitablefor viewing by children. Deleting those channels from theautoprogramming scan list causes the tuner to skip those channels duringa scan, but they can still be tuned by direct channel number entry.Furthermore, it is felt that a viewer should still be able to record aspecific television show on that particular seldom-watched channel, viaVCR PLUS™ programming, even though it is not programmed into hisautoprogramming scan list.

Returning to FIG. 4, as noted above, the control program in program ROM114 assumes a one-to-one correspondence of active channels to channelguide channels unless otherwise informed. Thus in step 405, the samechannel number data is displayed in the righthand channel guide columnas shown in FIG. 3c. The control program now begins to look for keyboardentries from the user. At step 415, a determination is made if anentered keycode is that of the PROGRAM key. As can be seen from FIG. 3c,the PROGRAM key is used to exit the channel mapping routine. If thekeycode is that of the PROGRAM key, then the routine advances to step417 wherein a determination is made as to whether or not new channeldata has been entered. If so, the new channel data is stored (step 419)and the routine is exited. If not, the routine is exited at step 425.

If at step 415, the received keycode was not that of the PROGRAM key,then the NO path is taken to step 420, wherein a check is made to see ifthe received keycode is the CHANNEL UP keycode. The control programinterprets a CHANNEL UP or CHANNEL DOWN command as an indication thatthe user is finished modifying the current line. Note that because ofthis interpretation, there is no need for an ENTER key (which is notpresent on all existing remote control handunits). Therefore, at step422 a check is made to see if new channel data has been entered. If so,the new channel data will be stored (step 424), and then the displaywill be scrolled up one line (step 426). If not, the routine willadvance directly to step 426 for scrolling the display up. The routinethen loops around to step 415 to continue examining received keycodes.

If at step 420, the received keycode was not that of CHANNEL UP, theroutine advances to step 430 to check whether or not the receivedkeycode is that of CHANNEL DOWN. If yes, the routine advances to step432 wherein a check is made to see if new channel data has been entered.If so, the new channel data will be stored (step 434), and then thedisplay will be scrolled down one line (step 436). If not, the routinewill advance directly to step 436 for scrolling the display down. Theroutine then loops around to step 415 to continue examining receivedkeycodes.

If at step 430, the received keycode was not that of CHANNEL DOWN, theroutine advances to step 440 to check whether or not the receivedkeycode is that of the STOP key. If so, The current line is deleted. Asnoted above, this means that two dashes replace the data in the displayof the channel mapping list, as shown in FIG. 3g. As explained above, ifthe display is then scrolled to a position in which the dashes are offscreen, then the entire line is deleted. Thereafter, scrolling thedisplay back to its original position reveals a display screen in whichthe entire previously-dashed line is deleted. Conversely, if desired,the program may be written to maintain the dashed entry, to enable easyreprogramming of the deleted line of channel information. Afterreplacing the previously-displayed data with dashes, the routine exitsfrom step 442 and loops around to step 415 to continue examiningreceived keycodes.

If the keycode at step 440 did not correspond to that of the STOP key,then the NO path is taken to step 445 wherein a check is made to see ifthe received keycode is that of any number key. If not, then itcorresponds to an irrelevant code and will be ignored by the routine. Inthat case, the routine loops around to step 415 without taking anyaction. In other embodiments, the particular action associated with thereceived keycode (e.g., volume down) can be accomplished, and thereafterthe channel mapping routine can be resumed, or terminated. If thereceived keycode is that of any of the number keys, then the YES path istaken to step 450. At step 450, new channel data corresponding to thereceived keycode is displayed at the current line, as shown in FIG. 3d,and then the routine loops around to step 415.

With respect to the decision diamonds of steps 417, 422, and 432, it isnoted that the EEPROM used has a recommended maximum number of writecycles, and it was felt that it is prudent to check to see if thechannel data has been changed rather than waste a write cycle byneedlessly storing unchanged data. It is recognized that such a checkwould be unnecessary with a storage medium having a virtually unlimitednumber of write cycles.

Deletion of entries in the channel guide list via use of the STOP key isdesirable because, unfortunately, the autoprogramming function may findspurious channels and list them as active channels. If so, they willappear in the autoprogramming scan list and be mapped into the channelguide list with a one-to-one correspondence. This may cause thefollowing problem. Assume a cable television service in which cablechannel 13 is inactive, but has a spurious signal which is detected bythe autoprogramming function thereby falsely identified as an activecable channel. This causes channel 13 to appear in both theautoprogramming scan list and the channel guide list. Further assumethat channel 13 is an active broadcast channel delivered by the cableservice on cable channel 22. In order to remap broadcast channel 13 tocable channel 22, the user will scan down to the line of theautoprogramming scan list containing channel 22, and change thecorresponding channel guide channel number to 13. However, as notedabove, channel 13 was falsely identified as an active cable channel, andwas automatically mapped in a one-to-one correspondence to channel 13 ofthe channel guide list. In such a situation, the channel guide list hastwo entries of channel 13. When a "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorderprogramming system code for channel 13 is entered by a user, it will bedescrambled and decoded, and then a search of the channel guide list fora channel 13 entry will be performed from the top down. Note that thefirst entry of channel 13 to be found will be the falsely identifiedcable channel 13, and not the correct entry remapped to channel 22. Thiswill cause the tuner to tune to inactive cable channel 13 instead ofcable channel 22, and the desired television show will not be recorded.In order to solve this problem, the user must delete the first,incorrect, entry of channel 13 from the channel guide list.

As a further example, assume that cable channel 02 was deleted from thechannel-guide list because it was inactive when the "VCR PLUS+™"videocassette recorder programming system set up was performed. Assumefurther that at a later date channel 02 is added to the cable televisionservice's system. If the "VCR PLUS+™" videocassette recorder programmingsystem code for a television show broadcast on channel 02 is thereafterentered by a user, channel 02 will be descrambled and decoded but willnot be found in the channel guide list (see element 235 of FIG. 2).Therefore, a one-to-one correspondence of broadcast channel number tochannel guide number will be assumed, as shown in element 245 of FIG. 2,and channel 02 will be tuned for recording, even though the channel 02entry was deleted previously.

Thus, there has been described, a videocassette recorder including "VCRPLUS+™" videocassette recorder programming system capability andautoprogramming capability, wherein the channel-mapping procedure isgreatly simplified by using the autoprogramming feature to locate andprogram all active channels, and then by mapping only those channelswhich are active. It is noted that in actual practice, most cabletelevision services supply approximately 30 active cable channels.Therefore, with the subject apparatus, a user need only select those 30or so active channels for possible remapping, instead of having to stepthrough all inactive channels as well, up to the maximum of 125 possiblechannel-programming positions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A videocassette recorder, comprising:tuner meansfor selecting a particular RF signal from a group of RF signals inresponse to a control signal, said RF signals corresponding totelevision channels; control means for generating said control signalfor causing said tuner means to select said particular RF signal; means,coupled to said control means, for entering data in response tooperation by a user; and memory means for storing channel related data;said control means in response to said data entered by said user causessaid tuner means to automatically tune to each of said televisionchannels, said control means storing in said memory meansautoprogramming data indicative of each active channel detected; saidcontrol means including programming means for receiving an entry of anumeric code for programming said videocassette recorder to tune to aspecific channel on a specific time and date and record a receivedtelevision signal for a specific duration of time, said control meansdecoding said numeric code to produce a specific channel guide number ofa plurality of channel guide numbers; said control means using saidautoprogramming data in a first mode for skipping inactive channels inresponse to a channel up or channel down command, and in a second modefor storing said active channel data for channel remapping during aset-up mode for said programming means; said control means using saidautoprogramming data for generating a display of a first list of onlysaid active channels and a second list of said channel guide channelnumbers, said first and second lists having an equal number of entries,and in response to said data entered by said user, performing saidremapping of channels by changing one of said channel guide channelnumbers to a predetermined channel number in order to associate it withone of said displayed active channel numbers; and in response to saiddecoded particular channel guide channel number, said control meansretrieves said associated active channel number; said control meanscausing said tuner means to tune to said associated active channel onsaid specific time and date and causing the recording of a televisionsignal for said specific duration of time.
 2. The videocassette recorderof claim 1, wherein said control means initially assigns a one-to-onecorrespondence of an active channel number to a channel guide channelnumber and maintains said initial assignment until said active channelnumber is associated with a channel guide channel number.
 3. Thevideocassette recorder of claim 2, wherein said numeric code forprogramming said videocassette recorder is a code of the VCR PLUS+™programming system.
 4. A videocassette recorder, comprising:tuner meansfor selecting a particular television channel from a group of televisionchannels in response to a control signal; control means for generatingsaid control signal for causing said tuner means to select saidparticular television channel; means, coupled to said control means, forentering data in response to operation by a user; and memory means forstoring channel-related data; said control means causes said tuner meansto automatically tune to each of said television channels, said controlmeans determining which of said television channels are active channels,and storing autoprogramming data indicative of said active channels inan active channel list in said memory means; said memory means alsostoring a list of channel guide channel numbers; said autoprogrammingdata being used by said control means in a first mode for skippinginactive channels in response to a channel up or channel down command,and in a second mode for storing said active channel data for remappingduring a set-up mode for said programming means; said control meansusing said autoprogramming data in said set-up mode to display saidactive channel list and a list of said channel guide channels, saidactive channel list and said displayed channel guide channel list havingthe same number of entries, and in response to data entered by said usersaid control means associates an entry in said channel guide list with arespective one of said displayed active channels by modifying said entryin said channel guide list; and said control means in response an entryof a particular channel guide channel number, causes said tuner means totune to said associated active channel instead of said to one of saidchannel guide channels when recording a television signal on a specifictime and date for a specific duration of time.
 5. A videocassetterecorder for use with a cable television system, comprising:tuner meansfor selecting a particular cable television channel from a group ofcable television channels in response to a control signal; control meansfor generating said control signal for causing said tuner means toselect said particular cable television channel; means, coupled to saidcontrol means, for entering data in response to operation by a user; andmemory means for storing channel-related data; said control means causessaid tuner means to automatically tune to each of said cable televisionchannels, said control means determining which of said cable televisionchannels are active channels, and storing autoprogramming dataindicative of said active channels in an active cable television channellist in said memory means; said memory means also storing a list ofchannel numbers of broadcast television stations; said control meansusing said autoprogramming data in a first mode for skipping inactivechannels in response to a channel up or channel down command, and in asecond mode for causing a display of a list of said active cable channeldata and a list of said channel numbers of broadcast television stationsfor remapping during a set-up mode for said programming means, thelength of said active cable channel list determining the length of saidlist of channel numbers of broadcast television stations, and saidcontrol means in response to data entered by said user associates anentry in said broadcast television station list with said displayedactive cable television channel list by changing said entry in saidbroadcast television station list to a predetermined channel number, andthereafter in response an entry of a particular broadcast televisionstation channel number, said control means causes said tuner means totune to said associated active cable channel.
 6. A method forprogramming a VCR, comprising the steps of:performing an autoprogrammingfunction to identify active cable television channels and store activecable channel data in an autoprogramming list; storing a list of channelnumbers of broadcast television stations; using said autoprogramminglist in a first mode for skipping inactive channels in response to achannel up or channel down command, and in a second mode for displayingsaid autoprogramming list and a list of equal length of said broadcasttelevision channels; reading data entered by a user and in response tosaid user-entered data associating an entry in said broadcast televisionstation list with said displayed active television channel number bychanging said entry in said broadcast television station list to apredetermined channel number; and, storing a map comprising datarelating said active cable television channels and said broadcasttelevision channels.
 7. Apparatus for programming a VCR,comprising:tuner means for tuning television channels; control means forcausing said tuner means to perform an autoprogramming function toidentify active television channels by controlling said tuner means andfor storing active channel data in a list; display means for displayingsaid stored active channel data during a remapping procedure; and means,including a memory for storing a map comprising data relating saidactive channels and a group of broadcast television channels; saidcontrol means using said active channel data in a first mode forskipping inactive channels in response to a channel up or channel downcommand, and in a second mode for remapping said broadcast channels tosaid active channels during a set-up mode by starting from said activechannel data in order to display a list of said stored active channelnumbers; said control means, in response to said data entered by saiduser, performing said remapping of channels by changing a broadcasttelevision channel number to a predetermined channel number in order toassociate said predetermined channel number with one of said displayedactive channel numbers.